Wednesday, February 6, 2013

International Primate Rescue

Five new volunteers arrived last night and, as if to welcome
them, the heavens opened and the roof leaked. Even buckets couldn’t stop the
deluge from flooding the walkway to the kitchen and the communal dining area.
Fortunately by this morning, it had dried up.

If you’re wondering why the roof is in such bad shape, such
is the nature of living quarters here at IPR. International Primate Rescue
founder and owner, Sue originally had a small sanctuary up in Polokwane, about
three hours north of here. She rented a property which meant constantly needing
to find new rentals every six months or so, and as much as you may think that
moving is a pain in the neck, imaging moving with monkeys! Eventually she and
her husband made the decision to buy some land closer to Pretoria, but to do that, they needed money.
And so, they left the monkeys in the care of a friend and moved to England
where they spent five years working and saving. Five years doing something you
don’t really want to do in a place you don’t want to be, but knowing the goal
at the end – that is dedication.

The mortgage on the land is nearly paid off, but since it is
not open to the public and donations are very few and far between, IPR relies
entirely on volunteers and their volunteer fees for funding. As Sue explained
when she showed me around, it is a constant juggling act for paying bills. My program
fees are helping to build an enclosure so that Brandi, a new monkey, can be
helped. Brandi is in a pretty dire situation, currently being kept on a very
short leash by her owners. She is very dangerous and if IPR doesn’t take her by
a certain date, she faces euthanization.

So that sums up one of the difficulties of running a
sanctuary. Just when you might start to pay off a few bills, you get a call
about an animal that will be euthanized if you can’t find room for them. And
that is something Sue aims to avoid if at all possible.